Vehicle control system and vehicle control method

Abstract

This vehicle control system for controlling travel by a host vehicle is provided with: a traveling lane location estimation unit for estimating, on the basis of recognition results from an external environment recognition sensor installed on the vehicle, the location of a traveling lane of a road on which the host vehicle travels as well as the positional relationship between the traveling lane and a road ancillary structure provided in an ancillary manner with respect to the road; a storage unit for saving the positional relationship between the road ancillary structure and the traveling lane; a traveling lane recognition determination unit for determining whether the location of the traveling lane was estimated on the basis of the recognition results from the external environment recognition sensor; a virtual traveling lane estimation unit that, if the traveling lane recognition determination unit determined that the location of the traveling lane has not been estimated, estimates a virtual traveling lane on the basis of the positional relationship between the road ancillary structure and the traveling lane that is saved in the storage unit; and a travel control unit for controlling the travel by the host vehicle on the basis of the traveling lane or the virtual traveling lane.

Description

Vehicle control system and vehicle control method

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle control system, and more particularly to a technology for automated driving using a self-generated map when the vehicle lane cannot be determined by an external recognition sensor.

[0002] In recent years, driving assistance systems and autonomous driving systems have been developed to realize a safe and comfortable motorized society. As the level of autonomous driving continues to improve, it will become necessary to develop complex control logic that takes into account the surrounding environment, such as merging onto highways and turning right or left at intersections. Developing these logics requires accurate understanding of road shapes and driving lanes. When understanding road shapes, high-precision maps, whose information is not updated, or self-generated maps, which allow for the registration of information appropriate for the function, can be used. Self-generated maps can estimate position with high accuracy using information acquired by external recognition sensors. However, some external recognition sensors may not be able to acquire sensor information correctly, and measures to address this issue are required, for example, as described in Patent Document 1.

[0003] Patent document 1 (JP 2020-86884 A) describes a lane marking estimation device in which a processor acquires information regarding the position of an actual lane marking based at least on an image captured by a camera installed on the vehicle, and information regarding the position of stationary targets installed along the vehicle's driving lane based on detection by one or more sensors having a detection method different from that of the camera installed on the vehicle, calculates the distance between the actual lane marking and the stationary target from the information regarding the position of the actual lane marking and the information regarding the position of the stationary target, estimates the position of a virtual lane marking from the calculated distance and the position of the stationary target detected by the sensor, and displays a line image along this virtual lane marking.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-86884

[0005] When a vehicle is driven autonomously based on a self-generated map, the vehicle's position and attitude are estimated based on the lane marking information and vehicle position information contained in the self-generated map. However, position and attitude deviations can occur when using only the self-generated map. For example, if the position is correct but the attitude is incorrect, even if the vehicle is driving on the road, the self-generated map may determine that the vehicle is driving toward the lane marking and has deviated from the lane marking, and autonomous driving may be canceled. Similarly, if the attitude is correct but the position is incorrect, autonomous driving may also be canceled.

[0006] Therefore, there is a method to compare the lane marking information on the self-generated map with the lane marking information obtained from the external recognition sensor, correct the lateral position and driving direction, and obtain the position and attitude information of the self-generated map with high accuracy.For example, even if the external recognition sensor recognizes the lane markings, the recognition results of the self-generated map and the external recognition sensor can be matched, and the position and attitude of the vehicle can be correctly corrected.

[0007] However, even with this method, if the external environment prevents the external recognition sensor from recognizing the lane markings, the accuracy of the vehicle's position may decrease, and autonomous driving may be canceled.

[0008] Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology for estimating the position of a white line from landmarks such as curbs and guardrails that are parallel to the road when the lane markings become invisible. However, there are many roads without curbs or guardrails, and there is a problem in that it is not possible to estimate the white line on roads without curbs or guardrails. For this reason, it may be difficult to estimate the vehicle's position with high accuracy in autonomous driving using a self-generated map.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to estimate a vehicle lane including lane markings and perform accurate automated driving even when there are no roadside objects parallel to the road.

[0010] A representative example of the invention disclosed in the present application is as follows: That is, a vehicle control system for controlling driving of a host vehicle includes: a driving lane position estimation unit that estimates a position of a driving lane of a road on which the host vehicle is traveling and a positional relationship between the driving lane and a road appendage attached to the road based on a recognition result by an external environment recognition sensor mounted on the vehicle, a storage unit that stores the positional relationship of the driving lane with the road appendage, a driving lane recognition determination unit that determines whether the position of the driving lane has been estimated based on the recognition result by the external environment recognition sensor, a virtual driving lane estimation unit that estimates a virtual driving lane based on the positional relationship of the driving lane with the road appendage stored in the storage unit when it is determined by the driving lane recognition determination unit that the position of the driving lane has not been estimated, and a driving control unit that controls driving of the host vehicle based on the driving lane or the virtual driving lane.

[0011] According to one aspect of the present invention, even if there are no roadside objects parallel to the road, the vehicle lane including the lane markings can be estimated and automatic driving can be performed accurately. Other problems, configurations, and effects will become clear from the description of the following embodiments.

[0012] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle control system according to a first embodiment; Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a method for estimating a virtual vehicle lane according to the first embodiment; Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle control system according to a second embodiment; Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle control system according to a fourth embodiment; Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle control system according to a fifth embodiment;

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0014] First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle control system for estimating a virtual vehicle lane according to a first embodiment.

[0015] The vehicle control system of this embodiment includes an external environment recognition sensor 1, a vehicle lane position estimation unit 2, a vehicle lane position storage unit 3, a vehicle lane recognition determination unit 4, a virtual vehicle lane estimation unit 5, and a driving control unit 6.

[0016] The external environment recognition sensor 1 has a function of grasping the distance from the vehicle to the vehicle lane and the distance from the road appendage 7 to the vehicle lane, and transmitting at least one of road appendage position information S1 and vehicle lane recognition information S2 to the vehicle lane position estimation unit 2. The external environment recognition sensor 1 may be composed of one sensor or multiple sensors as long as it has this function. For example, a camera may be a monocular camera, a stereo camera, or a multi-camera, or a combination of a camera and other sensors. The road appendage information S1 output by the external environment recognition sensor 1 represents a road appendage 7 (see FIG. 2 ), which is a feature attached to the road. The road appendage 7 may be a single object, a continuous object appearing along the road, or a linear object along the road. More specifically, the road appendage 7 may be a feature located inside the vehicle lane (e.g., a dividing line, a traffic light, a bulletin board, or a sign) or a feature located outside the vehicle lane (e.g., a curb, a guardrail, a road sign, a utility pole, a sign, or a pedestrian traffic light).

[0017] The vehicle lane position estimation unit 2 uses the input road accessory position information S1 and vehicle lane recognition information S2 to estimate the distance from the vehicle to the vehicle lane, the positional relationship between the vehicle lane and the road accessory 7 (e.g., the distance from the road accessory 7 to the vehicle lane), and the positions of the left and right vehicle lanes. The unit generates vehicle lane position information S3 indicating the estimated position of the vehicle lane and the positional relationship between the vehicle lane and the road accessory 7, and transmits the generated information to the vehicle lane position storage unit 3. For example, if a utility pole is treated as a road accessory 7, the unit generates road accessory position information S1 indicating the distance from the vehicle to the utility pole, which is a road accessory 7, from the vehicle lane position information S3. Furthermore, by using the utility pole road accessory position information S1 obtained from another utility pole, the relative positional relationship between the two points can be determined. For example, by combining the positions of the road accessory 7 using linear interpolation, a straight line along the road can be estimated, and the vehicle lane can be estimated from the estimated straight line. Furthermore, by fitting the position of the road appendage 7 to a predetermined curve (e.g., a solenoid curve) based on the curvature recognized by the external environment recognition sensor and smoothly connecting the road appendages 7, it is possible to estimate a curve along the road, and the vehicle lane can be estimated from the estimated curve. The vehicle lane position information S3 may be generated as a position on a self-generated map. Furthermore, the estimated vehicle lane may be compared with the vehicle lane actually detected by the external environment recognition sensor 1 to confirm that there is no discrepancy (e.g., the degree of deviation is within a predetermined error range).

[0018] The vehicle lane position storage unit 3 has a function of storing the input vehicle lane position information S3 and transmitting the vehicle lane position information S3 to the vehicle lane recognition / determination unit 4 and the virtual vehicle lane estimation unit 5. The vehicle lane position information S3 may be stored in a recording medium of the vehicle itself, or may be stored in a recording medium outside the vehicle, such as a center server that communicates with the vehicle itself.

[0019] The vehicle lane recognition determination unit 4 has a function of determining whether the vehicle lane is recognized and whether the input vehicle lane position information S3 represents the position of the vehicle lane, and if the vehicle lane position information S3 represents the position of the vehicle lane, transmitting the vehicle lane position information S3 to the driving control unit 6. Furthermore, if the vehicle lane is not recognized and the vehicle lane position information S3 does not represent the position of the vehicle lane, the vehicle lane recognition determination unit 4 has a function of transmitting non-detection of the vehicle lane as determination information S4 to the virtual vehicle lane estimation unit 5.

[0020] The virtual traveling vehicle lane estimating unit 5 has a function of generating virtual traveling vehicle lane information S5 using the input traveling vehicle lane position information S3 and determination information S4, and transmitting the generated virtual traveling vehicle lane information S5 to the traveling control unit 6. When the determination information S4 indicates that a traveling vehicle lane has not been detected, the virtual traveling vehicle lane estimating unit 5 uses the road accessory position information S1 and the traveling vehicle lane position information S3 to estimate a virtual traveling vehicle lane that serves as a substitute for the traveling vehicle lane that cannot be recognized, and outputs the virtual traveling vehicle lane information S5 to the traveling control unit 6.

[0021] The driving control unit 6 supports autonomous driving using the input driving lane position information S3 and virtual driving lane information S5. For example, the driving control unit 6 sets a driving lane for the vehicle based on the driving lane and the virtual driving lane, and controls the vehicle to travel along the center of the width of the driving lane.

[0022] Each functional block of the vehicle control system of this embodiment is implemented in a control device having an arithmetic unit, a storage device, and a communication interface. The arithmetic unit is a processor (e.g., a microcomputer) that executes programs stored in the storage device. The arithmetic unit operates as a functional block that provides various functions by executing predetermined programs. The storage device includes a non-volatile storage area and a volatile storage area. The non-volatile storage area is accessible by the arithmetic unit and includes a program area that stores programs executed by the arithmetic unit, and a data area that temporarily stores data used by the arithmetic unit when executing programs. The volatile storage area stores data used by the arithmetic unit when executing programs. The communication interface connects to other electronic control units via a network such as CAN or Ethernet.

[0023] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for estimating a virtual vehicle lane according to the first embodiment. The example of the estimation method will be specifically described with reference to this diagram.

[0024] The external environment recognition sensor 1 mounted on the vehicle detects the distance S201 from the center of the vehicle to the left-hand vehicle lane and the distance S202 from the center of the vehicle to the right-hand vehicle lane. At this time, the overall width S203 of the vehicle lane is the sum of S201 and S202. The external environment recognition sensor 1 also detects the distance S101 from a road accessory 7 to the vehicle lane. Based on these detections, the left-hand vehicle lane S301 is estimated to be located at a distance S101 from the road accessory 7, and the right-hand vehicle lane S302 is estimated to be located at a distance S101+S203 from the road accessory 7. Such detection, recognition, and estimation are performed for each continuous or individual road accessory 7 attached to the road and installed near the road, such as a guardrail, road sign, curb, or traffic signboard. The estimated left-hand vehicle lane S301 and right-hand vehicle lane S302 for each road accessory 7 are stored in association with the road accessory 7.

[0025] When the left running vehicle lane S301 and the right running vehicle lane S302 appear normal, the position from the left running vehicle lane S301 and the right running vehicle lane S302 that is half the total running vehicle lane width S203 is considered to be the center line, and vehicle control is performed to operate the steering wheel so that the distance S201 from the left running vehicle lane to the center line and the distance S202 from the right running vehicle lane to the center line are equal and half the total running vehicle lane width S203.

[0026] In addition, if at least one of the left-hand driving vehicle lane S301 and the right-hand driving vehicle lane S302 cannot be detected due to an external environment such as backlight after rain, the position information of at least one of the left-hand driving vehicle lane S301 and the right-hand driving vehicle lane S302 associated with the road accessory 7 is treated as a virtual left-hand driving vehicle lane S501 and a virtual right-hand driving vehicle lane S502, and the same processing as when the driving vehicle lane can be detected is performed.

[0027] The number of road appendages 7 is not limited to one. For example, if there are multiple road appendages 7, such as a guardrail, a sidewalk, a traffic sign, a utility pole, and a traffic light, a virtual left-traveling vehicle line S501 and a virtual right-traveling vehicle line S502 are estimated from each of the road appendages 7. When multiple left and right virtual traveling vehicle lanes are estimated, the virtual left-traveling vehicle line S501 and the virtual right-traveling vehicle line S502 may be selected based on priority. The priority may be determined based on the overlap rate of the virtual traveling vehicle lines. If the overlap rate is used as the priority, the position with the highest overlap rate of the virtual traveling vehicle lines from the multiple road appendages 7 is selected as the virtual traveling vehicle line. The priority may be determined based on the distance between the vehicle and the road appendage 7. If the distance to the road appendage 7 is used as the priority, the virtual traveling vehicle line can be selected with high accuracy. The priority may also be determined based on the type of road appendage 7. For example, using a linear road appendage 7 rather than a point-like one allows the virtual traveling vehicle line to be selected with high accuracy. Furthermore, the virtual traveling vehicle line closest to the host vehicle may be selected in consideration of vehicle control safety.

[0028] As described above, the vehicle control system of the first embodiment of the present invention estimates the driving lane position based on road accessories 7 (e.g., curbs, dividing lines, guardrails, utility poles, road signs) detected by the external environment recognition sensor 1 under normal conditions, and stores the distance between the estimated road accessories 7 and the driving lane. Even if the external environment recognition sensor 1 is unable to detect the driving lane due to an external environmental factor, a virtual driving lane is estimated based on the estimated distance from the road accessories 7 recognized by the external environment recognition sensor to the stored driving lane, and driving is supported based on the virtual driving lane.

[0029] Furthermore, even when using self-generated maps for driving assistance, the vehicle's own position and attitude can be estimated with high accuracy, and by driving along the vehicle's driving lane, contact with surrounding vehicles can be reduced, and the vehicle can stop at the correct stop line position at intersections, reducing contact with crossing vehicles.

[0030] 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle control system that estimates a virtual lane marking according to Example 2. In Example 2, differences from Example 1 will be mainly described, and the same components and processes as those in Example 1 will be assigned the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0031] The vehicle control system of this embodiment has an external environment recognition sensor 1, a lane marking position estimation unit 8, a lane marking position storage unit 9, a lane marking recognition determination unit 10, a virtual lane marking estimation unit 11, and a driving control unit 6.

[0032] The external environment recognition sensor 1 has a function of grasping the distance from the vehicle to the lane marking and the distance from the road appendage 7 to the lane marking, and transmitting at least one of road appendage position information S1 and lane marking recognition information S2 to the lane marking position estimation unit 8. As long as the external environment recognition sensor 1 has this function, it may be composed of one sensor or multiple sensors. For example, if the sensor is a camera, it may be a monocular camera, a stereo camera, or a multi-camera, or it may be a combination of a camera and another sensor.

[0033] The lane marking position estimation unit 8 uses the input road accessory position information S1 and lane marking recognition information S6 to estimate the distance from the vehicle to the lane marking and the distance from the road accessory 7 to the lane marking, and further estimates the positions of the left and right lane markings, generates lane marking position information S7 indicating the estimated positions of the lane markings and the distances from the road accessory 7 to the lane markings, and transmits the generated lane marking position information S7 to the lane marking position storage unit 9. For example, if a utility pole is treated as a road accessory 7, road accessory position information S1 indicating the distance from the vehicle to the utility pole, which is the road accessory 7, is generated from the lane marking position information S7. Furthermore, by using road accessory position information S1 from another utility pole obtained from another utility pole, the relative positional relationship between the two points can be determined. For example, by combining the positions of the road accessory 7 using linear interpolation, a straight line along the road can be estimated, and the lane marking can be estimated from the estimated straight line. Furthermore, by fitting the curvature of the road appendages 7 recognized by the external environment recognition sensor to a predetermined curve (e.g., a solenoid curve) and smoothly connecting the road appendages 7, it is possible to estimate the curve along the road, and the lane markings can be estimated from the estimated curve. The lane marking position information S7 may be generated as a position on a self-generated map. Furthermore, the estimated lane markings may be compared with lane marks actually detected by the external environment recognition sensor 1 to confirm that they are consistent (e.g., the degree of deviation is within a predetermined error range).

[0034] The lane marking position storage unit 9 has the function of storing the input lane marking position information S7 and transmitting the lane marking position information S7 to the lane marking recognition determination unit 10 and the virtual lane marking estimation unit 11. The lane marking position information S7 may be stored in a recording medium of the vehicle itself, or may be stored in a recording medium outside the vehicle, such as a center server that communicates with the vehicle itself.

[0035] The lane marking recognition determination unit 10 has the function of determining whether a lane marking has been recognized and whether the input lane marking position information S7 represents the position of the lane marking, and if the lane marking position information S7 represents the position of the lane marking, transmitting the lane marking position information S7 to the driving control unit 6. Furthermore, if a lane marking has not been recognized and the lane marking position information S7 does not represent the position of the lane marking, the lane marking recognition determination unit 10 has the function of transmitting non-detection of the lane marking as determination information S4 to the virtual lane marking estimation unit 11.

[0036] The virtual lane line estimation unit 11 has the function of generating virtual lane line information S8 using the input lane line position information S7 and determination information S4, and transmitting the generated virtual lane line information S8 to the driving control unit 6. If the determination information S4 indicates that a lane line has not been detected, the virtual lane line estimation unit 11 uses the road accessory position information S1 and the lane line position information S7 to estimate a virtual lane line to replace the lane line that cannot be recognized, and outputs the virtual lane line information S8 to the driving control unit 6.

[0037] The driving control unit 6 supports autonomous driving using the input lane marking position information S7 and virtual lane marking information S8. For example, the driving control unit 6 sets a driving lane for the vehicle based on the lane markings and virtual lane markings, and controls the vehicle to drive along the center of the lane in the width direction.

[0038] 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle control system that estimates a virtual vehicle lane according to Example 3. In Example 3, differences from Example 1 will be mainly described, and the same components and processes as those in Example 1 will be assigned the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0039] The vehicle control system of this embodiment includes an external environment recognition sensor 1, a vehicle lane position estimation unit 2, a vehicle lane position storage unit 3, a vehicle lane recognition determination unit 4, a virtual vehicle lane estimation unit 5, a driving control unit 6, and a vehicle position information unit 12.

[0040] The vehicle position information unit 12 has a function of transmitting the vehicle position information S9 to the vehicle lane position storage unit 3. The vehicle position information S9 may be, for example, latitude and longitude output from a GNSS device.

[0041] The vehicle lane position storage unit 3 has a function of storing the input vehicle lane position information S3 in association with the vehicle position information S9, and transmitting the vehicle lane position information S3 to the vehicle lane recognition / determination unit 4 and the virtual vehicle lane estimation unit 5. The vehicle lane position information S3 may be stored in a recording medium of the vehicle, or may be stored in a recording medium outside the vehicle, such as a center server that communicates with the vehicle.

[0042] The external environment recognition sensor 1, the vehicle lane position estimation unit 2, the vehicle lane recognition determination unit 4, the virtual vehicle lane estimation unit 5, and the driving control unit 6 of the third embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment described above.

[0043] In the third embodiment, by associating the vehicle position information S9 with the road appendage 7, it is possible to set the position of the virtual vehicle lane without making an erroneous estimation even for similar road appendages 7. By providing such a function, for example, in an autonomous vehicle that estimates its own position using a self-generated map, even if the vehicle lane becomes unrecognizable due to an external factor, the vehicle position and attitude can be adjusted by using the virtual vehicle lane to match it with the self-generated map.

[0044] 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle control system that estimates a virtual vehicle lane according to Example 4. In Example 4, differences from Example 1 will be mainly described, and the same components and processes as those in Example 1 will be assigned the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0045] The vehicle control system of this embodiment includes an external environment recognition sensor 1, a vehicle lane position estimation unit 2, a storage period adjustment unit 13, a vehicle lane position storage unit 3, a vehicle lane recognition determination unit 4, a virtual vehicle lane estimation unit 5, and a driving control unit 6. The external environment recognition sensor 1, the vehicle lane position estimation unit 2, the vehicle lane position storage unit 3, the vehicle lane recognition determination unit 4, the virtual vehicle lane estimation unit 5, and the driving control unit 6 are the same as those in the first embodiment described above.

[0046] The storage period adjustment unit 13 changes the storage period of the traveling vehicle lane position information S3 input from the traveling vehicle lane position storage unit 3, and deletes the record of the traveling vehicle lane position information S3 that has passed the storage period. If the information is within the storage period, the storage period adjustment unit 13 has a function of transmitting the traveling vehicle lane position information S3 to the traveling vehicle lane position storage unit 3.

[0047] The storage period adjustment unit 13 may set the initial storage period to, for example, one month. If the lateral position of the vehicle is offset in stages, the storage period may be extended to store the data for a road where the lane width is likely to change, for example, for a period of twice the appearance interval. If the initial storage period for the relevant area is shorter than twice the appearance interval, the subsequent setting value may be set to twice the appearance interval.

[0048] For example, in a location where the vehicle lane cannot be detected, the vehicle lane position information S3 may be stored for a period of time equal to twice the appearance interval in the past history. If the initial setting period for the relevant area is shorter than twice the appearance interval, twice the appearance interval may be set as the subsequent setting value.

[0049] For example, for an area that frequently appears in the navigation history, it is preferable to store the vehicle lane position information S3 for a period of time equal to twice the appearance interval of the past history. If the initial setting period for the area is shorter than twice the appearance interval, it is preferable to set twice the appearance interval as the subsequent setting value.

[0050] 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle control system that estimates a virtual vehicle lane according to a fifth embodiment. In the fifth embodiment, differences from the first and fourth embodiments will be mainly described, and the same components and processes as those in the first and fourth embodiments will be assigned the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0051] The vehicle control system of this embodiment includes an external environment recognition sensor 1, a vehicle lane position estimation unit 2, a storage period adjustment unit 13, a vehicle lane position storage unit 3, a vehicle lane recognition determination unit 4, a virtual vehicle lane estimation unit 5, a driving control unit 6, and a vehicle lane display unit 14. The external environment recognition sensor 1, the vehicle lane position estimation unit 2, the storage period adjustment unit 13, the vehicle lane position storage unit 3, the vehicle lane recognition determination unit 4, the virtual vehicle lane estimation unit 5, and the driving control unit 6 are the same as those in the first and fourth embodiments described above.

[0052] The imaginary vehicle lane information S5 generated by the imaginary vehicle lane estimating unit 5 is transmitted to the driving control unit 6 and the vehicle lane display unit 14.

[0053] The driving vehicle lane display unit 14 has a function of displaying virtual driving vehicle lane information S5 input from the virtual driving vehicle lane estimation unit 5. The driving vehicle lane display unit 14 may display whether the vehicle is driving using the virtual driving vehicle lane information S5 based on information acquired from the driving control unit 6. The virtual driving vehicle lane information S5 displayed by the driving vehicle lane display unit 14 allows the occupant to recognize whether the vehicle is driving using the driving vehicle lane acquired by the external environment recognition sensor 1 or the virtual driving vehicle lane.

[0054] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications and equivalent configurations within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to configurations including all of the described configurations. Furthermore, part of the configuration of one embodiment may be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment. Furthermore, the configuration of another embodiment may be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Furthermore, part of the configuration of each embodiment may be added, deleted, or replaced with other configurations.

[0055] Furthermore, the aforementioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in part or in whole in hardware, for example by designing them as integrated circuits, or may be realized in software by having a processor interpret and execute a program that realizes each function.

[0056] Information such as programs, tables, and files that realize each function can be stored in a storage device such as a memory, a hard disk, or an SSD (Solid State Drive), or in a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

[0057] In addition, the control lines and information lines shown are those that are considered necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily represent all the control lines and information lines that are necessary for implementation. In reality, it can be assumed that almost all components are interconnected.

Claims

1. A vehicle control system for controlling the driving of a host vehicle, comprising: a driving lane position estimation unit that estimates the position of the driving lane of a road on which the host vehicle is driving and the positional relationship between road appendages attached to the road and the driving lane based on recognition results from an external environment recognition sensor mounted on the vehicle; a storage unit that stores the positional relationship of the driving lane with the road appendages; a driving lane recognition determination unit that determines whether the position of the driving lane has been estimated based on the recognition results from the external environment recognition sensor; a virtual driving lane estimation unit that estimates a virtual driving lane based on the positional relationship of the driving lane with the road appendages stored in the storage unit when the driving lane recognition determination unit determines that the position of the driving lane has not been estimated; and a driving control unit that controls the driving of the host vehicle based on the driving lane or the virtual driving lane.

2. A vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle lane is a dividing line on a road.

3. A vehicle control system as described in claim 1, characterized in that the memory unit changes the storage time of the position of the lane markings based on at least one of the driving state and driving location of the vehicle.

4. A vehicle control system as described in claim 1, comprising a vehicle position information unit that inputs vehicle position information to the storage unit, and the storage unit stores the positional relationship of the vehicle lane to the road accessory in association with the position information input from the vehicle position information unit.

5. A vehicle control system according to claim 1, further comprising a virtual lane marking display control unit that displays the virtual lane marking on a display unit provided on the vehicle.

6. A vehicle control system as described in claim 1, characterized in that the virtual lane marking estimation unit determines the position of the virtual lane marking based on the priorities of the multiple virtual vehicle lines estimated for each of the multiple road accessories stored in the memory unit.

7. A vehicle control method executed by a vehicle control system, the vehicle control system having a calculation device that executes a program and a storage device accessible by the calculation device, the vehicle control method comprising: a driving lane position estimation procedure in which the calculation device estimates the position of the driving lane of the road on which the vehicle is traveling and the positional relationship between a road appendage attached to the road and the driving lane, based on the recognition results of an external environment recognition sensor mounted on the vehicle; a storage procedure in which the calculation device stores the positional relationship between the driving lane and the road appendage in the storage device; a driving lane recognition determination procedure in which the calculation device determines whether the position of the driving lane has been estimated based on the recognition results of the external environment recognition sensor; and a virtual driving lane estimation procedure in which the calculation device estimates a virtual driving lane based on the positional relationship of the driving lane with the road appendage stored in the storage device, if it is determined in the driving lane recognition determination procedure that the position of the driving lane has not been estimated. a travel control procedure in which the arithmetic device controls the travel of the host vehicle based on the travel vehicle lane or the virtual travel vehicle lane.

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